Sohini Das and Vinay Umarji find out if there is any truth in Narendra Modi’s claim that Muslim businessmen in Gujarat never had it better
In a locality scarred by the Gujarat riots of 2002, one store stands apart – Hearty Mart. The “community store” in Ahmedabad’s Juhapura neighborhood is the brainchild of Nadeem Jafri. He started the mini-supermarket in 2004 in what was a ghetto. With discounted prices and a no-frills shopping environment, it is targeted at people who find big-brand organised retail intimidating. He also supplies food to the hotels and restaurants run by the Momin community across Gujarat. “We leveraged the strength of our community which lies in running restaurants, around 2,000 of which are in on the Ahmedabad-Vapi belt,” says Jafri, an MBA from FMS Indore. Hearty Mart has grown from one store in Ahmedabad to nine more in Gujarat.
The condition of Muslims in Gujarat under chief minister Narendra Modi has been the subject of much debate. The riots that followed the Godhra massacre tarnished the state’s secular image. Yet, Gujarat remains the most popular destination for investments, with businessmen falling over each other to put money into the state. Have Muslims got their rightful share of the prosperity? Modi has said Muslim businessmen never had it better in Gujarat. But what is the situation on the ground?
Almost every businessman in Gujarat has basked in the glory of the state’s growth story. “Muslims too have made the most of this opportunity, and have prospered,” says Talha Sareshwala, CEO and managing director of Parsoli Motors, the leading BMW dealer in the city. When the dealership started in 2008, it hardly had Muslim customers. “I have seen the spending power of Muslims rise tremendously in these 8 to 10 years. Now, around 10 to 12 per cent of my customers comprise Muslims,” he says.
“If one is living in a society, one cannot lead a secluded existence; one has to come forward and join the mainstream. Any setback is actually an investment and becomes the cause for going forward,” says Uves Sareshwala, Talha’s elder brother and one of the co-promoters of Parsoli Corporation. The Parsolis have tried their hand at several lines of businesses including poultry, industrial valves, stock broking, paints and luxury cars.
It is not just the educated or the established Muslim business families that have managed to grow in the last few years. Ayub Pathan, who used to earn Rs 600 a month from his job at the city airport, owns a fleet of seven taxis. “In 2001, I had sold my wife’s jewellery, borrowed money at high interest rate from the unorganised market, and bought my first taxi. Bank loans were not easy for a Muslim entrepreneur then. But, things have improved. I have moved from my humble hutment at Camp Hanuman to an apartment at Shahibaug,” Pathan says with pride. He earns close to Rs 50,000 a month from his taxis.
Muslims, according to the 2001 census, make up nearly nine per cent of Gujarat’s population of 50 million. The Sachar Committee says Muslims aren’t badly off in Gujarat. Their literacy rate of 73.5 per cent is better than the national average of 59.1. The per capita income of Muslims in urban Gujarat is Rs 875 per month, higher than the national average of Rs 804. The number of Muslims living below the poverty line in Gujarat has also come down, from 54 per cent in 1987-88 to 34 per cent in 2004-2005. Muslims form 5.4 per cent in the state government’s roll call, compared with 2.1 per cent in West Bengal, 3.2 per cent in Delhi and 4.4 per cent in Maharashtra.
So, did government policies have a role to play? Yes, says Kaizar Mahuwala of Gurjar Images: “Our plant needs to run 24X7; if we shut down for a day, it would take 36 hours to restart production. Such a plant could possibly run only in a state like Gujarat where the power infrastructure can support industrial growth.” The sentiment is echoed by others. “The future is here. I cannot even think of living in any other city but Ahmedabad, everywhere else seems alien to me,” says Talha Sareshwala who is now planning to open BMW showrooms across Gujarat.